First Fetal Movements: 14 Moms Share How It Felt to Feel Their Baby Move for the First Time
by 30Seconds Pregnancy

Flutters. Butterflies. Tickles. Whatever you call it (doctors call it "quickening"), when you feel your baby move inside you for the first time, it's something most moms-to-be never forget. According to WebMD, if this is your first pregnancy, you may not feel Baby move until closer to 25 weeks, but by the second pregnancy, some feel movements as early as 13 weeks. We asked moms to put that special moment into words. Grab a box and tissues and read on...

"I was at a restaurant about to devour a slice of pizza the size of my head when I got this tickle that felt like butterflies. It stopped me in my tracks. I just sat there waiting for it to happen again – and it did. Being pregnant for the first time, I thought it would be a kick. It was a feeling I'll never forget. It got very real at that moment."

"I remember it feeling like butterflies, too, and I wasn't expecting it. I actually got tears in my eyes, both from relief and from joy, that I could feel my baby moving. The first kick may have been even more impactful, literally. I jumped when I felt it (and my heart jumped for joy)! Precious moments that we need to share with our kids so they know they were loved even before birth!"

"If something can happen to me at an awkward time, it will. My big big boss was in town and we were having a meeting. There was about 15 of us around a conference table, silently listening to him speak, when ... BOOM! A feeling like someone was rubbing me with a feather from the inside hit me. What did I do? I giggled like a small child. My boss asked me what was so funny and I shared it with the group. He was a new dad himself (I had no idea), so he was completely moved and cut the meeting short and took me out for the best corned beef sandwich I've ever eaten!"

"With my first, I didn't really realize that the little ‘pops’ I was feeling was actually him moving. When movement became more noticeable, it freaked me out a bit. It felt almost alien-like and I had a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea that there was another living thing inside me. Such a surreal experience. I eventually got over it and loved feeling him move, but it took a while for me to not feel freaked out by it. After he was born, I missed having him so close to me and being able to feel him."

"The first time I felt Keira move, I was scared. It was the first time that it finally ‘hit’ me that I was going to be a mom. I knew I was pregnant, read all the books, picked out names, shopped for clothes and nursery decor, took the vitamins, but it wasn't till she moved that it truly dawned on me that I wasn't just pregnant, but I was going to be a mom. I was a mix of emotions, scared, anxious, excited, bewildered and in awe of how she was making me feel!"

"Thinking it would be weeks before I felt those ‘flutters,’ I was completely taken off guard when I felt my first one. To me, it felt like when I swing too high on a swing set. Tickly. Made me grin ear to ear and place that protective hand over my belly. A joyous moment."

"With my first child, Luke, I was sitting at my desk at work. It was a tickle. I squealed immediately. It was like a finger tickling my belly from the inside. I hopped up from my chair at the receptionist desk and ran to my mother’s office (she was the office manager at the firm I worked for) and she and I both giggled and cried. It was fascinating, startling and incredible. I knew then. I was in awe of my little babe and it grew an excitement in my heart and soul that I cannot quite express. Just wow and awwww and crying and happiness. It was such a sweet moment. And thankfully I could share it with my mother."

"M-A-G-I-C. My husband and mom were with me, and when I jumped and put my hand on my tummy, they both ran over to me overjoyed and wanted to share in my moment. I was more than happy to oblige. Again, it was magic."

"I’m one of the rare women who never really felt the ‘flutters.’ Because I hadn’t felt anything, I was a bit nervous, but my doctor assured me that everything was fine, that every pregnancy was different. The first time I felt my baby it was a soft kick, nothing butterfly-like. It was the best feeling I’ve ever felt. I finally started to relax after that and start enjoying being pregnant."

"It felt like being lightly stroked from the inside. Mine was so faint, but so powerful all at the same time. SOMETHING IS IN THERE! You know that, but it doesn't become really real until you feel it. No words."

"I wasn’t sure what I was feeling at first. Then when I knew what it was, I thought it was amazing! I think I experienced every possible emotion all at once. I understood why people call it ‘fluttering’ because that’s kind of what it felt like physically. But I’m not sure there’s a single word that could describe what it felt like emotionally, feeling my baby move for the first time!"

"With my firstborn at 14 weeks I felt what felt like buzzing bees. It took me two days to realize what it was. I was so happy when I realized what it was. Overwhelmed with joy and felt like it was such a miracle. With my daughter my placenta was on the front, so I didn't feel anything till 18 weeks and it was a real kick. I was amazed it was so different from my first."

"The first movement with my first – I was desperate to feel movement, as I had miscarried just before the pregnancy and I didn’t trust that everything was OK. Everyone said I’d feel something by week 16, but it came and went and nothing. When I was 18 weeks, I was really nervous that I hadn’t felt anything. Lying in bed one night, in the middle of the night, I whispered, ‘Mommy is so scared, she just needs to feel you move. Please move for me, Baby, so I can feel it.’ And right then I felt the first little flutters and I started cry with joy. It was just amazing."

"I was waiting and waiting and waiting for her to move. It was so weird! Especially when you can SEE the movement! Like an elbow poking through your belly. But after you realize what’s happening it’s so magical!"

Tell us about the moment you felt your baby move for the first time below.